


I Know, I Know, I Know (I Feel The Same As You)

by fortunehasgivenup



Series: And did you know that I'm wild for your skin [8]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: AU, Dirty Talk, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Masturbation, Meeting the Parents, Phone Sex, Post-Divorce, parenting, tattoo artist au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 17:54:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20492873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunehasgivenup/pseuds/fortunehasgivenup
Summary: Rio introduces Beth to his mom. Beth spends time at the loft with Rio and gets an art lesson. Confessions are made.





	I Know, I Know, I Know (I Feel The Same As You)

Beth tugged at the front of her dress so that it wouldn’t bunch at her waist. She should have picked something different, rather than the red and white polka dot one she’d gone for. What had she been -

“Relax,” Rio told her sternly. “My mom’s gonna love you.”

“Not helping,” she muttered, mostly ignoring him.

He reached over the centre console and took her hand. “Elizabeth,” she turned her head towards him, “my mom is going to love you.”

Beth’s heart skipped a beat at the word love.

“You’re sure?”

He squeezed her hand. “She’s not a she-dragon or anything, trying to keep you away from her precious son or anything like you’re imagining. She wants to meet the woman that I’m spending all of my time with.”

Beth’s head thumped against the back of the seat. “It’s been a long time since I had to do the meet the parents thing and it didn’t go well last time.”

“Believe me,” Rio said, keeping her hand in his as he turned down his mother’s street, “she likes you already.”

They pulled up to a neat two story house with a well maintained garden.

“She gardens?” Beth asked, opening the door and stepping out.

“She does.” Rio came around and took her hand. “I told you, relax. You two will probably get on like a house on fire. It’s Lora you gotta worry about.”

Beth turned her head to tell him that it wasn’t funny when she saw the front door open.

Rio’s mother looked nothing like Beth had expected. The way he talked about her, she’d been expecting someone petite and motherly. Instead, she was a slim woman, a little over Beth’s height.

“Hello Elizabeth.” She held out her hand to shake Beth’s before welcoming her into the house. Rio got a hug and a kiss, followed by a pat on the cheek. “You can call me Paola.”

“And I’m Beth. It’s nice to meet you,” Beth said. “Rio talks a lot about you. And his sister.”

“He does?” Paola looked at her son, then back at Beth. “He’s tight-lipped when it comes to you. If Marcus hadn’t told me about your date, it might have taken ages for him to tell me.”

“Yeah, because of this,” Rio muttered under his breath, taking off his shoes.

Beth slipped off her flats and held out the plate of lemon squares that she’d brought. “I know that you told Rio not to bring anything,” she said to Paola, “but I’m think I’m physically incapable of coming to someone’s house without something.”

Paola smiled and took the plate. “I’ll allow it,” she said in a stern voice that didn’t quite match the sparkle in her eye that Beth had seen in Rio’s plenty of times. “But only because Marcus says that you make the best cookies. I’m a little upset at being usurped, but it’ll be nice to have someone help fill the dessert table. My family eats everything in sight.”

“So that’s not just Rio?” Beth asked, letting Rio and his mother escort her towards a bright kitchen at the back of the house.

“You think he’s bad?” Paola laughed. “Lora is a fiend for sweets.”

“Yeah and who’d we get that from, ma?” Rio asked, giving her a pointed look.

Paola waved her hand. “What can I get you to drink?”

Beth froze, unsure what her options were.

“Whatever you’re having,” Beth answered.

“A red,” Paola lifted a bottle. “I just opened it.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Beth said.

Paola poured a glass of wine. “Rio tells me that you have four kids.”

Rio sighed, but went to get himself some water.

“I do,” Beth confirmed. “Kenny, my eldest, is eleven, Danny is nine, Emma is turning eight soon and Jane just turned six.”

“Must be hectic,” Paola said, passing Beth the first glass.

Beth shrugged. “It can be. Other days are easy, but that’s the way it is when you’re a parent.”

“Sometimes,” Paola leaned a little bit towards Beth, “I preferred when Lora and Rio weren’t getting along because when they teamed up, that’s when they made the biggest messes. But when they were fighting? They avoided each other. Then it was quiet.”

Beth laughed. “When all of mine are getting along, it’s a sign that the apocalypse is coming or that they’re united against something. But I can usually get two or three of them to agree on something at a time, thankfully.”

“I can only imagine. How has Rio been dealing with them?” She poured the second glass, then put a little stopper onto the bottle.

“Mom,” Rio tried to cut in, but she shushed him.

“He’s great,” Beth assured Paola. “They all like him, especially Jane. Apparently he does the best braids.”

Paola hid her smile behind her glass. “His sister used to bribe him to play with her hair.”

“Extort me, more like it,” Rio corrected. “She said she’d tickle me if I didn’t.”

Paola waved a hand. “You were tiny back then. You could just hide under things. In things. Behind things. You didn’t try very hard to avoid hair duty.” She turned towards Beth. “He was scrawny as a boy.”

Rio groaned, burying his face in his hands. Biting her lip against laughter, Beth reached over to rub his scalp.

“Was he?”

“I’ll show you some photos after dinner.” Paola smiled. “Come, take a seat.”

To Beth’s relief, dinner passed easily. Rio’s mother was a natural conversationalist and coaxed all kinds of little stories from Beth - some about her kids, some about herself, some about Rio. It didn’t hurt that she was just as good of a cook as Rio had said that she was. When Beth told her so at the end of the meal, Paola seemed pleased.

“Start the coffee,” she told her son. “Unless it’s tea for you as well, Beth?”

“Is it decaf?”

Paola nodded. “This late, the last thing that I need is caffeine.”

“Then I’ll take the coffee,” Beth replied.

Rio ducked into the kitchen and Paola turned to Beth.

“Come, I’ll show you some photos,” she said, standing up. Beth followed her through a wide doorway into the living room.

Beth looked around. “This doorway must make it easier to host the family.”

“I renovated after the kids moved out and they started bringing people home with them,” Paola said. “Now, we can just extend the table.”

Beth hummed. She had a dining room with a fairly large table, but there was nowhere else for it to go. Rio and Marcus would fit, no problem, but when it came to having Ruby, Annie, and their families over, seating was a free for all.

Paola pointed to a picture on the shelf. “That’s Rio and his father, Gael.” Beth looked at the little boy with the adorably chubby cheeks.

“Marcus looks just like him,” Beth commented.

Paola nodded. “And if you look at pictures of Gael as a boy, they both look exactly like him.”

Beth laughed. “All of my kids look so different from me and their father.”

“Rio said that you’re divorced,” Paola took the opportunity to question her without Rio present.

“Yes,” Beth answered. “We were high school sweethearts. Married young. He wasn’t a good husband.”

Paola studied her carefully. “There’s plenty of ways to be a bad husband,” she said. “Which was it for you?”

“Ma,” Rio cut in, joining them in the living room.

His mother didn’t look even the slightest bit ashamed and Beth couldn’t blame her. Just the idea of meeting some future girlfriend or boyfriend of her children made her want to cry. She could only imagine the list of questions she’d have for them. She would probably have a list.

“It’s okay,” Beth said. “He cheated on me. Multiple times. And he put our family in a precarious financial position that could have ruined the lives of our children.”

Paola nodded, though her lips had pulled together in distaste. “My Rio wouldn’t do that.”

Beth laughed, ignoring Rio’s groan. “I don’t think he would. He’s been wonderful, he _is_ wonderful.”

She looked over at him. He looked a little bit embarrassed, but Beth just smiled at him and reached out to twine her fingers with his.

“Coffee’s ready,” he said. “And I took the liberty of unwrapping dessert.”

Paola rolled her eyes. “Of course you did. I bet you helped yourself already too.”

“I did not,” Rio rushed to defend himself. “Elizabeth knows exactly how many were on that tray. I wouldn’t dare mess up her little display.”

“Bring it into the living room,” Paola told Rio. “It’s more comfortable.”

“And you can show her more baby photos?” Rio guessed.

Paola just lifted one eyebrow and waited for him to huff and turn back into the kitchen.

Rio’s mother took a seat in an armchair, leaving the couch for Beth and Rio.

“Wasn’t sure if you had your decaf the same way,” Rio said when he brought in a tray with three cups, the plate of squares, a jug of cream and sugar.

“I do,” Beth told him, accepting her cup and starting to add cream and sugar.

Rio passed his mother hers. “Noted.”

Beth tried not to pay too much attention to Paola as she selected a lemon square and set it on a plate while she prepared her own coffee.

“These are very good,” Paola commented after a few bites. “Marcus was right.”

Beth flushed. “Thank you.”

“I hope you know that this means you’ll be responsible for desserts when we all get together,” Paola said with a smile.

“I’d be happy to,” Beth returned the smile.

————————

Rio let his mother walk them to the door, watching as she shook Beth’s hand again, this time laughing about something to do with chocolate cake.

His mother turned towards him and gave him a look.

“I’ll wait in the car,” Beth said, holding out her hand for the keys. He grimaced. Was it that obvious? Beth was biting her lip as she accepted the keys. “It was lovely to meet you, Paola.”

“And you, Beth. I won’t keep him long.”

Rio looked up at the ceiling as Beth left with a wave.

“I like her.”

He reluctantly lowered his gaze. “Yeah?”

His mother nodded. “She suits you. Maybe not the woman that I would have guessed that you would wind up with, but you fit.” She reached up and put a hand on his cheek. Without thinking about it, Rio slouched a little so that she didn’t have to reach so much. And she noticed, smiling a little wider.

“Nothing about me being a good fit for her?” Rio asked.

“I’m not her mother,” she replied with a wave of her hand.

“Her mom died,” Rio said. “And I get the impression that she wasn’t around much when she was alive.”

His mother’s face softened. “Then it becomes even more special that she’s a good mother. I’m happy for you. Now get out of my house and come back with my grandson. I haven’t seen him in weeks. He’s probably grown half a foot since I last saw him.”

Rio rolled his eyes, but bent to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Love you, ma.”

————————

Beth felt completely relaxed as she basked in the afterglow. The dinner with Rio’s mother had gone well. They’d made tentative plans for an end of the season barbecue so that she’d be able to meet the rest of Beth’s family. Then Rio had driven them back to his place and taken his time with her, getting her wet with his tongue and fingers before fucking her. It had been a good night.

“What are you doing?” Beth groaned as Rio traced shapes on her back.

At her question, he stopped, dropping his chin to rest on her shoulder. “How pissed would you be if I drew on you?”

“Huh?” Beth opened her eyes and rolled onto her back so she could see Rio.

“Just Crayola markers, no Sharpie,” he said, adjusting his position again. “I want to draw on your back.”

“Draw what?” Beth asked, but Rio just smiled and shook his head. “Just Crayolas?”

“I’ll even help you scrub your back later,” he promised, adopting a solemnity that didn’t match with the amusement in his eyes.

Beth let her eyes slip shut. “Fine. But it better be able to be covered by a shirt if it doesn’t wash off right away.”

“I swear,” Rio kissed the cheek close to him and got up as Beth turned over onto her stomach again, resting her head on her folded arms. She could hear him moving around the loft, but he came back quickly. “Any requests?” He tugged the sheet down her waist and uncapped a marker.

Beth thought about it. “No, just whatever.”

He trailed his fingers up and down her spine. “That’s the kind of thing I like to hear.”

The first touch of the marker shouldn’t have been a surprise, but Beth still jerked slightly before settling in.

“When I was first apprenticing,” he said, “I didn’t have a whole lot of freedom about what I could do. No one’s going to let a guy who’s only done a couple tattoos design and execute their entire sleeve. First time someone did, I was so fucking excited that I could barely sleep the night before.”

“Let me guess, you fell asleep during the session,” Beth teased him. The marker strokes were soothing - gentle pressure of a long line, stippled dots clustered together. It would lift from her skin, only to come back down somewhere else in a smooth curve.

“No!” Rio protested with a laugh. “He was a chill client. I’ve seen him a couple times since for touch-ups and he’s thinking about a leg piece from a buddy of mine.”

“Not from you?” Beth shifted her head.

Rio was quiet for a moment as he concentrated on one patch of skin. “You only hang art from one artist in your house?” He asked. Beth made a noise. “It’s like that. Even if you love someone’s work, you don’t necessarily want just theirs on your body. You want variety. Only got so much space.”

Beth shivered when the marker dipped low.

“I did my first one in juvie though when I was sixteen, remember. Believe me, it was terrible. At least I had the good sense to put it on my arm. It was my first cover-up too, soon as I was out.”

“Which tattoo is it?” Beth felt sleepy, got even sleepier as Rio went on, occasionally switching to a different marker.

“It’s under the coin, here.” He bent down to kiss her bicep, the same place where the tattoo in question was on his own body. “Not going to ask me what it was?”

“Is it really dumb?” She mumbled.

He just laughed. “I’ll tell you later then, when you think you can handle it. The guy who did the cover-up, Jack, got a good chuckle out of it. He also gave me a job doing work around the shop. Helped me get an apprenticeship when I was old enough.”

“He did a lot for you,” Beth remarked. “He still tattooing?”

Rio’s hand stopped. “He died. Three years ago.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry, Rio.” Beth craned her neck over her shoulder to look at him, but he reached out to prevent her from seeing her back.

“He’d had a good run. He was in his seventies, probably started smoking when he was in the second grade, and after Bette died, he was lonely.”

“His wife?” Beth guessed.

He snorted, then began to draw again. “His motorcycle. He and his wife got divorced like twenty something years ago. He had an agreement with his kids that he wouldn’t buy a new one, so he kept Bette going as long as he could. He loved riding.”

“Do you drive a motorcycle?”

“I have,” he answered, “and I’ve got my license, but after Marcus, I got rid of my bike. I liked it, but not like Jack did. He left me the shop.”

Beth went to turn, but Rio’s hand stopped her. “Stop squirming,” he demanded.

She sighed, but settled back down. “He left you the shop?”

“Yeah. I’d been taking over more and more of the day to day business. We’d done some renos and I’d bought in,” he said, “but he signed over the last of it.”

“Making you the upstanding local business owner you are.” Beth smiled.

“If you say so.”

They fell silent again, nothing but the sound of marker caps and breaths for a while. Beth was drifting to sleep when there was a click and Rio’s weight on the bed shifted. “Done.”

She yawned and stretched. “Take a photo,” she demanded. 

More shifting, this time to the side of the bed. When he returned, he straddled her upper thighs and Beth’s breath hitched as his erection settled against her ass.

“Is that normal during this process?” She lifted her hips slightly.

“When I’m around you, yeah. Don’t worry, it’s not in the photo.”

Beth laughed. “No dick pics on the internet. I remember.”

He must have gotten the shot, because he draped himself over her back, wrapping his left arm around her belly and lowering his head so it was just next to hers. “See?”

Beth shifted enough that she could look at the phone screen with both eyes and actually get a look at the picture.

Rio had drawn a smiling gorgon, her head surrounded with green and blue snakes, flowers twined around them. “If it was an actual tattoo, I wouldn’t do the colour like this,” he said, running his fingers over what Beth guessed was one rearing snake’s head. “I also would have taken more time planning placement and -“

“Why a gorgon?” Beth asked.

Rio kissed the back of her neck. She could feel him smiling. “Because when I look at you, it’s like I can’t move.”

Beth turned her head and he finally let her. “What?” She could hear her voice crack.

“I love you,” Rio said simply.

“Oh.” Beth stared up at him, then grabbed his face and pulled him down to kiss him. He responded right away, settling on top of her with a low groan. “I need you,” she gasped when she broke the kiss, dropping a hand down between them so that she could grasp him in her hand.

He nodded and shifted his hips until Beth pressed him against her entrance, then he sank in.

“Fuck,” he groaned, “I need to get a -“

Beth wrapped her legs around his waist, shaking her head. “We got tested. I’m on birth control. I want you like this.”

“You want me to finish inside you?” He asked, starting up a slow grind of his hips, pressing his cock just the slightest bit deeper and then withdrawing.

She nodded. “Yeah, I want that.”

Rio groaned, but didn’t withdraw. “Alright,” he said. “Alright.”

Normally, Rio talked when they had sex. He would tease her, promise her all sorts of filthy things. But it was different this time. He was almost silent, except for his heavy breaths and the messy kisses that he gave her.

He groaned when Beth tightened around him, settled his fingers on her clit. When she moaned, he covered her mouth with his, almost like he was trying to consume her pleasure.

“Rio,” Beth gasped as she came, grabbing his shoulders and trying to pull him even closer.

A moment later, he finished with his face buried against Beth’s neck, then slumped into her. Beth stroked the back of his head, squeezed his neck, rubbed his shoulders.

“I love you too,” she said, “in case you didn’t get that.”

Rio’s chuckle was mostly muffled by her shoulder, but she felt and heard it easily enough. “That’s good,” he replied after pulling away to lie on his back beside her. Beth could feel his cum slipping out of her and she shivered.

Reaching over, she grabbed his hand and brought it down between her legs. She wasn’t sure why, she just knew that she wanted him to feel what she was feeling.

He cursed quietly, running his fingers through the mess he’d left. Before long, Beth was moving her hips against his fingers and he was rubbing her to another orgasm.

Beth slumped into the bed, muscles turned to noodles.

“Let’s take a bath,” Rio suggested, nuzzling into her neck.

“Can’t move,” she told him.

He nipped her skin. “I’ll run it and come back to get you.”

Eyes closed, she felt him roll away and get off of the bed. She groaned, missing his warmth, but before long she lay in Rio’s arms, letting the hot water leech away any residual tension.

“Falling asleep?” He asked, his voice rambling through his chest. His legs, too long to fit in the tub, dangled over the sides.

“You wore me out,” she told him.

“I’m pretty sure that you’re the one who initiated rounds two and three,” he reminded her. One of his hands left her waist and began to slice back and forth through the water, sending little waves over them.

“Maybe.”

“Definitely,” Rio said. “You definitely did.”

“You’d just told me that you love me,” Beth shifted a bit so that her head was resting against his shoulder and she could see his face. “What was I supposed to do?”

He turned his head towards her and kissed her lightly.

“What made you say it?” Beth found herself asking.

His expression was thoughtful. “Couple of people at the shop.”

“Other artists?”

Rio shook his head. “Remember how I told you about that one lady, Gloria?”

It took Beth a moment to remember. “Who got her first tattoo at like seventy?”

“That’s her,” he confirmed. “There was another one the other day, John. He was 91. He and his wife Marian had been married for almost 70 years when she passed away less than a year ago. When they first got married, he was actually serving in the Navy, so she would write him letters. She’d always sign them, “With all my love, Marian,” and he wanted that.”

Beth turned over so that she could look at Rio. “Seriously?”

“Yup.” Rio tapped a spot just off centre, right where his heart was. “Here.”

Beth sniffed. “That’s -“ she got choked up.

“I know,” Rio said, tugging her down so that she was laying on his chest. It wasn’t as comfortable this way, but she wanted to be able to trace the edges of his sacred heart tattoo.

“Why would you tell me that? Now I’m all sad.”

He laughed softly. “Because you asked. I’d kind of figured that I’m in love with you and I didn’t want to play some stupid game where we both try to avoid saying it. When I asked Gloria what kept her and Millie together for so long, she said that they talked to each other and put time into their relationship. I - I want that.”

“You’re making me cry,” Beth said.

“Elizabeth,” his voice sounded amused, “you cried during a coffee commercial last week.”

“Because it was really sweet!”

“Uh huh.” He buried his face in her hair. “C’mon, let’s get out before we turn into prunes.”

Beth got up first. “You’d still love me if I was a prune though.” She grabbed towels, wrapping one around her torso and passing the second one to Rio when he stepped out, pulling the drain as he did.

He took it, secured it as his waist and cupped her face, tilting it up towards him. “Even if you were a prune.”

——————————————

Beth said it again when she woke Rio up with her hand on his cock. “I love you.” His reaction was to nearly roll them off the bed in his enthusiasm. Her head was hanging over the side of the bed when he got her where he wanted her.

He said it again when he came out of the bathroom to find her making them breakfast, giggling as he tickled her throat with his stubble.

“How about a date?” Rio asked, wrapping her hair around his fingers.

“With who?” Beth joked.

He squeezed her waist. “Someone’s got jokes, huh?”

Beth laughed. “Sure. What were you thinking?”

“What are your feelings on art galleries?” He said.

She shrugged. “Depends on the gallery.”

“Well,” he stepped back, “how about you and me head downtown after work and take a look. There’s an exhibit on. Dean’s got the kids until tomorrow, doesn’t he?”

Beth nodded. “I could swing that.”

“Pick you up at 6?” Rio took a seat at the counter, where he’d already poured their coffee and tea. Beth served the omelettes and took the other stool.

“Sounds good.”

———————————

“Hey,” Beth sounded breathless when Rio picked up the phone the next afternoon.

“What’s up?”

“There’s been an accident on the freeway and I’m trapped until they get a lane cleared. Would you be able to pick up the kids? I know that it’s -“

“Sure,” he cut off whatever she was about to say. “I just need the address. Pick ‘em up at 5, right?”

There was silence on the other end.

“Elizabeth?” He lifted his head.

She sniffed. “Nothing.” She gave him the address. “I said I’d be there at 5, but if you’re a bit late, that’s going to be fine. Stan’s there.”

“Alright.” He dropped his pen. “He know I’m gonna do pick-up?”

“That’s my next phone call,” Beth answered. “They’ve got a spare key to the house that Stan’ll give you.”

“Want me to get dinner started?” He offered.

She sighed. “I was just going to order pizza, to be honest.”

Laughing, Rio kicked his feet up. “You’re speaking my language. I’ll order around 5:30 if you’re not back. How’s that sound?”

“I’d better be back,” Beth muttered. “But thank you. Kenny’s at -“

“A sleepover,” Rio finished for her. “I remember.”

“Thank you.”

He shook his head. “You want to thank me, I’ve got some ideas,” he teased her. It made her laugh. “Drive safe okay? And let me know if there’s any changes.”

“Will do,” Beth said.

“Love you.”

“Love you too,” Beth replied, then hung up.

A little while later, Rio pulled up to the address that Beth had given him and got out of the car. It was a single story home and, like Beth’s, the garden was obviously well taken care of, though the focus was more on greenery rather than flowers.

Rio knocked on the door.

“Coming!” A voice called from inside. The door opened, revealing a man that must have been Ruby’s husband.

Rio opened his mouth to introduce himself when Stan grinned and held out his hand.

“You must be Rio,” he said, giving Rio’s hand a hearty shake. “Hi, I’m Stan.”

Rio smiled back. “That’s me.”

Stan stepped aside and welcomed Rio in. “The kids are in the backyard, trying their best to murder each other with whiffle ball bats. Want something to drink?”

Rio followed him inside and took off his shoes at the door. “Water’s good.”

“How about lemonade instead?” Stan went to the fridge. “Then I can have a glass and tell Ruby that I dipped into it because we had a guest.”

Laughing, Rio nodded. “I won’t turn it down.”

“Good,” Stan replied, bringing over a large glass jug. He poured them two glasses. “Ruby tells me that you’re a tattoo artist.”

“And Beth tells me that you’re a cop,” Rio said to Stan’s back as he returned the jug to the fridge. “Actually,” Rio tilted his head, “I think it might have actually been Annie who brought it up.”

Stan shook his head. “She call me five-oh? The Man?”

“I think she might just have said cop.”

“That’s showing restraint for Annie,” Stan drawled, taking a seat at the kitchen counter. “So,” he said, gesturing for Rio to take a seat, “what are your intentions with Elizabeth Irene Boland?”

Rio was glad he’d already swallowed his mouthful of lemonade. “Excuse me?”

“Ruby says you seem like a good dude,” Stan went on, “but she also thinks that our mailman isn’t trustworthy. Floyd’s practically a saint!”

“And you got sent in for the kill?” Rio guessed.

“You kidding? Beth would murder me if she knew I was asking you this. Worse than that, she’d never make me cinnamon buns again. Have you had her cinnamon buns?”

Rio shook his head.

Stan widened his eyes, then leaned towards Rio. “You will see the face of God,” he said in a solemn tone.

“I’ll have to ask her to make ‘em.”

“And your intentions with Beth?” Stan sipped his lemonade, watching Rio closely.

Rio tapped his foot. “In what way? Long term?” Stan nodded. “I got plans.”

“Not gonna share them?” Stan asked.

“Before I talk to Elizabeth?” Rio asked. “No.”

Stan grinned. “Good.”

Rio studied Ruby’s husband. “Ruby tell you the rest of it?” He asked.

Stan set his glass down. “Rest of what?” He said carefully.

“That I’ve got a record.”

“Ah.” Stan nodded. “She told me.”

Rio smiled without feeling it.

“Ruby also told me that you make Beth smile bigger than she’s ever seen,” Stan said. “I’ve known Beth as long as I’ve known Ruby. Two of them were peas in a pod in high school when I transferred in. Beth actually introduced the two of us. She and I had bio together.”

“So you knew Dean too?” Rio guessed.

Stan grimaced. “Yeah, I know him. He’s -“ Stan thought it through, “not my favourite person.”

“Can’t imagine how he could be anyone’s,” Rio muttered.

Stan shrugged. “We were all young back then. Some of us grew up. Some of us didn’t.”

Emma came in, arm and arm with Sara, preventing them from continuing.

“Hi Rio!” Emma greeted him. “Have you met Sara?”

“I haven’t,” Rio said, sliding off the stool, “although I’ve heard about her.”

Letting go of Emma, Sara held out her hand and shook Rio’s. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, confident. Rio just knew that Ruby and Stan spent a great deal of time instilling that sureness in her.

“Nice to meet you too. And there’s some more familiar faces,” he said when Jane came in with Danny and Harry, who remembered Rio from soccer in the park.

“I’d better get them home.” Rio accepted Jane’s hug with a pat on her back. “There anything that they need to help clean up?”

Stan shook his head. “Nope, we’re all good.”

He got Jane and Emma loaded into the backseat. Danny seemed excited to sit in the front, though he settled down when Rio told him to buckle up.

Unloading was easier. Emma coached him through their usual pizza order, then disappeared upstairs after Danny.

Grabbing one of Beth’s books from the shelf near the TV, Rio dropped onto the couch to kill time.

He didn’t get far.

“I don’t want to go back to school.”

Rio looked at Jane, who had flopped down on the couch beside him dramatically.

“No?”

She shook her head.

“Why not?”

She sighed. “Can Marcus come to my school?”

Rio closed the book. “Sorry, peanut.”

Jane frowned. “I don’t like the kids in my class.” She sat up and scooted across the couch cushions to press against his side. “They’re boring.”

“Boring?” He set his hand on the top of her head and stroked her hair. “How?”

She shrugged. “They like boring stuff,” she said. “A lot of them only want to play princesses and it’s not fun because I can’t even be one of the ones with a sword.”

“I can see how that would be boring,” Rio agreed. “What about the other kids?”

“Some of them are okay, but the boys usually say that I can’t play with them because I’m a girl,” Jane said. “Even though that’s dumb.”

“That is dumb.”

“How come I can’t stay home?” Jane asked, tilting her head back. “Or I can go to work with you! I can be your ‘prentice.”

“Apprentice,” Rio corrected without really thinking. Jane just repeated the word. “You’ve got to be older to be my apprentice. And you should finish high school.”

She sighed, slumping even more. “I don’t wanna.”

“Lots of things we don’t wanna do that we have to,” Rio said. “I don’t like doing paperwork, but I need to or nobody gets paid. Nothing gets done.”

“I’ll do your paperwork,” Jane offered.

Rio chuckled, shaking his head. “You know how to fill out forms on taxable income?”

She made a face. “No.”

“How to file an insurance claim?”

“I don’t even know what that means,” Jane said.

“I didn’t either, at first. But you have to learn. Even if you don’t want to, you need to. School will teach you the basics. How to write, how to do math, how to read.”

“I know how to read,” Jane said, perking up.

Rio nodded. “You do. You’re a great reader, but as you get older, you’ll learn how to read something critically. You’ll learn how to evaluate information. Can you trust it? Does it mean what it says? That kind of thing. Eventually, you’ll be able to pick what you want to learn. Maybe you’ll decide to be an astronaut and you’ll learn engineering or biochemistry. Or you’ll decide to do something like your mom does and you’ll learn how to cook and bake. Or write.”

“Or do tattoos.”

“Or do tattoos,” he agreed with a laugh. “You have to deal with blood though.”

“Ew.” Jane’s mouth pinched and her brows drew together. “Maybe no tattoos.”

“Maybe not. You get to decide that eventually, but for now?” He ruffled her hair. “You gotta go to school, peanut.”

She collapsed against his side. “Does Marcus like school?”

“Yeah,” Rio said. “He wants to be a pilot or a vet or an astronaut.” His lips twitched at Marcus’ most recent addition to his list of acceptable careers. “Maybe there will be someone new,” he suggested. “If someone moved or switched schools.”

“You think?” Jane asked.

Rio shrugged. “I can’t say for sure. But you never know.”

Jane looked up at him. “Okay.”

“You’ll give it a shot?” Rio asked. She nodded. “That’s good.”

She wiggled against his side and shut her eyes. “You can go back to reading,” she told him.

Smiling, Rio did just that for a few minutes before Beth came in.

“Hi!” She sounded breathless. “Met the pizza guy in the driveway,” she called out. “Whose turn is it to set the table?”

“Danny!” Jane replied. “I’ll go get him.” She slid off the couch and towards the stairs. Rather than going upstairs however, she just stood at the bottom and hollered. “Danny! Set the table!”

Rio turned around in time to see Beth wince.

“Hey,” he said as he pushed up off the couch. “You okay?”

“Just tired,” Beth groaned. “It took way too long to get home.” She noticed the plate of vegetables that Rio had washed and cut, then took a cucumber slice and bit it.

Rio pulled the key from his pocket and jangled it. “Where should I put these so they get back to Ruby?”

“Just keep it,” Beth said. “I’ll get Ruby a new one.”

Rio looked down at the key. “You should at least give her back the keychain,” he replied, starting to take the key off of the ring.

Beth laughed. “That’s fair.” She accepted the keychain back and tossed the rest of the cucumber piece into her mouth.

Rio pulled his own keys from his pocket to add Beth’s house key. It felt good, sliding it onto the ring and once it was on, he grinned.

“That a hint you want mine?” He asked.

She blushed, but didn’t answer.

Laughing, he kissed the corner of her mouth. “I’ll make you copies of the entryway key and the apartment key. Get them to you next time I see you.”

“You don’t have to,” she started to say, but Rio just cut her off with a deep kiss.

“I want to,” he said. “Besides, this way maybe I come home one day and I find you naked in -“

She huffed and pulled away. “Perv,” she accused.

“Yeah, but I’m your perv,” Rio said, reaching around her to grab a carrot and biting into it, then leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I’d make it worth your while.”

Beth shivered.

“Are you kissing?” Danny called out. “Because I need to set the table and the dishes are in there.”

Rio chuckled, but stepped away from Beth, who was turning a bright red.

“You can come in,” she said, tucking her hair back.

When Beth walked him out to his car after dinner, she did it holding his hand and blushing like they were kids.

“What is it?” Rio asked, tugging at her hand.

Beth groaned. “Stan messaged me during dinner.”

“And what’s the verdict?”

“He said,” Beth pulled her phone from her pocket, “and I quote, “You better tie that one down, Beth.””

"Tie me down, huh?" Shaking his head, Rio bent down to kiss her. He’d meant for it to be a pretty brief kiss, but then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down.

Rio obliged her, meeting her enthusiasm with his own. She was pressing her chest against his and, had they been anywhere else, he would have expected her to actually climb onto him.

“Fuck,” he broke the kiss, “it’s like that, huh?”

Beth nodded. “Yeah,” she murmured, then pulled him back into the kiss.

It took a few minutes for them to untangle from one another and in the end, Beth was flushed for entirely different reasons as she walked back to the house.

It was a couple of hours later, after the kids were in bed, when she called him for a report on the kids.

“They were good,” Rio assured her. “No problems.”

“You’re sure?”

“Elizabeth,” Rio dropped onto his back on the bed, “your kids were great.”

She sighed. “Thank you, really.” Rio smiled, but didn’t say anything. “Look at me, I haven’t even asked you how you are.”

“Yeah, well, I’m horny,” Rio said, adjusting the pillow behind his head.

He could imagine Beth biting her lip so that she wouldn’t laugh at the put out tone. “You can take care of that yourself.”

“I know I can, ma, been doing that for a long fucking time at this point,” he replied. “But I was thinking that even if you ain’t here, maybe you want to lend a hand.”

There was the sound of shifting. “Oh?” Her voice had lowered slightly.

Rio hummed, running his fingers back and forth across his belly button. “What are you wearing? I hope the answer’s nothing,” he said. “Or maybe one of them robes.”

“I’m wearing pajamas, Rio,” came her reply.

“Take ‘em off.”

“What are _you_ wearing?” Beth asked.

“Fuck all,” Rio drawled back. “Marcus isn’t around, I sleep naked.”

“Of course you do,” she said. “Why am I not surprised?”

Rio laughed. “Because I sleep naked when I’m with you too?”

“That’ll have to change,” she paused, “when you stay over while the kids are here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“You take ‘em off yet?” Rio asked.

“No!” Beth hissed.

Rio teased his fingers a little lower. “You know what, I changed my mind. I like the idea of you slipping your hand down inside of them.”

“What makes you think I’m going to do that?” Beth asked. He could hear the slightest change in her voice though. If she didn’t have her hand in her pants, it was on its way there.

“Because you’re horny too,” he said. “‘Member when I kissed you goodbye and you nearly climbed me in the driveway?” He chuckled, letting his fingers just brush the root of his cock. “Bet you’ve been restless all night, Elizabeth.”

There was no answer.

“You touching yourself?” He asked. “You just playing with your clit or you gonna put a couple of those fingers inside? Fuck, I bet you’re wet.”

“I am,” she admitted and Rio smiled in victory. She was getting bolder. “I haven’t put my finger in my -“ she trailed off.

“Cunt?” Rio offered, gripping his cock. “Pussy? Snatch? Vagina?”

“Oh what,” she huffed, “you’re a thesaurus now?”

Rio laughed, although when he tightened his hand, the laughter cut off. “C’mon Elizabeth, say it.”

“Which one?”

“Any of ‘em. You touching yourself yet? Maybe you’re just rubbing that finger up and down, spreading all that wetness around, just teasing yourself with a fingertip.” Rio could picture it - her lying in her bed in a pair of matching pajamas, under the covers. All he’d be able to see would be the movement of her hand. Her face.

Rio shoved his own sheets down around his ankle, then kicked them off.

“Cunt,” she said. “Pussy. Vagina. Cock. Dick. Balls. How’s that?”

Rio laughed. “Where’s your finger, Elizabeth?”

Her swallow is audible. “It’s in my pussy.”

Rio stroked himself. Trapping the phone between his shoulder and ear, he reached out with his other hand to grab the small container of lube he kept in the nightstand, drizzling a little onto his cock to ease the way. He shut it and tossed it aside, working it up his cock.

“Just one?”

“Uh huh,” she replied. “Where’s your hand?”

“On my cock,” he told her bluntly. “But believe me, sweetheart, I’d rather have it in your pussy, teasing your clit.”

She took a harsh breath. “I think I’d rather have that too,” Beth admitted. “Your fingers are so much…bigger than mine. Thicker. Longer.”

“Oh, I know,” Rio drawled. “I’ve had that hand on my cock, Elizabeth. I know how small your hand is. Doesn’t fill you up like you been getting used to.”

“Uh uh,” Beth agreed, moaning. 

Rio circled his thumb over the tip, imagining the look on her face. Would her mouth be hanging open? It probably wasn’t yet, her lips parted just the slightest bit as she grew hazy with pleasure.

“I miss that hand,” Rio drawled.

“Do you?” Beth asked. “You want my hand?”

Beth’s hand was smaller, softer than his own. She wasn’t as rough with him as he was with himself. “Yeah, I do.”

He heard her breath catch, then a drawn out moan. He could guess that she’d just slid another finger in, trying in vain to recreate the feeling that only he could give her.

“I like your hand,” Rio told her. “Feels good.”

He kept stroking himself as he talked.

“As good as my mouth?” She teased. He could picture that mouth, red from kissing, her lip bitten from trying to hold in her sounds.

“Different.” His mind supplied him with the image of Beth kneeling in front of him in her kitchen. How she’d looked, glancing up at him through her lashes. She’d swallowed and when Rio had kissed her, he’d been able to taste it on her tongue. “How many?”

He didn’t need to clarify.

“Three,” Beth told him, sounding breathier than before.

Rio grinned, although he wasn’t doing much better. “You riding your hand, Elizabeth?”

She probably was, lifting her hips against it in search of her climax the same way he was fucking into his fist, wishing it was her.

“You imagining that it’s me there with you?”

“Yeah. Oh!” He heard her cry out, then muffle the sound. In her arm? Her pillow? He wanted to hear it, wanted to hear her moan.

Beth whimpered amongst her moans. He knew that she’d be squirming, could practically picture it, stroked himself a little faster in response. It was building in the pit of his belly.

She murmured something, but it was muffled.

“What?”

There was some shuffling. “Not as satisfying as your fingers,” she said. “Or your cock.”

Rio grunted. “Good.” He was teetering on the edge. If she were here with him, she would probably sink her nails into his back or maybe scratch him a little. She had claws, far more than he’d thought the first time that he’d seen her, and delighted in using them.

Not that Rio had any problems with that.

With that in mind, he tugged his balls.

“Are you going to come?” Beth asked. “For me, even if I’m not there?”

“Yeah,” Rio said through almost gritted teeth as he sped up the rhythm of his hand. 

“Imagining that you’re doing it inside of me?” 

The thought made him shiver. He’d finished inside of her the other night and afterwards, she’d pushed his fingers inside to feel. He had wanted nothing more than to get hard again and give her some more to squirm about, but he was only human.

In the end, it was the image of Beth on her back, legs open, as he dripped down her thighs that did it. Grabbing the sheet with one hand and grunting like he’d had the breath knocked out of him, Rio started to spill onto his belly and fist. He kept stroking, drawing it out.

“That’s it.” He realized that Beth was talking to him still. Just words of encouragement, but it had him shivering as he coaxed out the last drops. “Good?” she asked.

“Good,” he panted. He felt beat, wanted to just sink into the mattress and go to sleep for eight to ten hours. 

He reached over and grabbed a couple of tissues for clean up. “Guess I should say “thanks”,” he told her. 

Beth just laughed. “Go to bed, Rio,” she replied, “so that I can go to sleep too.”

“Night, sweetheart,” he murmured.

Beth hummed into her phone. “Night. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Rio said, then hung up and let his phone fall onto the bed. He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes and yawned.

**Author's Note:**

> A million thank yous to medievalraven and neveroffanon for beta-ing and letting me talk at them. A million thank yous to everyone who comments and leaves kudos. Title from "The First Five Times" by Stars. (Side note: a bunch of the songs on their album "Set Yourself on Fire" give me Brio vibes.) As usual, if you find that there's some content I haven't tagged for, that you think should be, please let me know.
> 
> A WARNING: I’m about to go back to school. I have no idea how intense my classes are going to be, how much time things will take, especially in the first couple of weeks as I get used to everything again. Updates might be more sporadic from now on - maybe every three weeks or so. Like I mentioned, I’ve been working on this story pretty randomly, so there’s plenty already written for future updates, and on top of that, writing is my "me" time, so I'm not about to stop or anything. I just might be a little slower because I don't want to have to explain to anyone that I didn't do my assignments because I was writing fanfiction. Thank you for your patience.


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